Requesting the MOVA Band of Choctaw Indians be Given Full Federal Recognition by the United States of America

WHEREAS, the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians is an Indian Tribe as formally recognized by the State of Alabama in 1979; and

WHEREAS, the MOWA Choctaw Tribal council is the duly elected and authorized legislative branch of the government of the MOWA Choctaw People; and

WHEREAS, the MOA Band of Choctaw Indians has petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Federal Acknowledgement Regulations for status as a Federally Recognized Indian Tribe; and

WHEREAS, instead of providing a fair and unbiased review of the formal record as is required by law, the Bureau of Indian Affairs yielded to both political pressure from the more powerful consortia of Federal tribes who opposed their recognition in tandem with the economic motivations of outside interests by refusing to evaluate the petition fairly and to render the proper decision which would be to restore all rights of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians by granting Federal recognition to the MOWA Choctaw people; and

WHEREAS, the MOWA Choctaw people have the indissoluble support of a significant number of independent experts and former BIA officials who were astounded by the agency's flawed decision; and

WHEREAS, legislation providing federal recognition to the MOWA Choctaw tribe was recently introduced in the House of Representatives, where a hearing is pending in the near future, and companion legislation is expected to be introduced in the United States Senate before the August district work period; and

WHEREAS, the NAACP has historically and continues to make right what is wrong by seeking justice as an advocate for disadvantaged people in need of help from the more powerful who wish to further promote their own economic and political agendas at the expense of less fortunate minority people.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP advocate on behalf of MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians to receive their full Federal recognition from the US Federal Government for legal and restoration of their rights as a Native American tribe.